Signs of Brexit progress needed

It is more than 14 months since the electorate decided to leave the European Union and we are no closer to discovering what a post-EU UK will look like. Promises that the country will leave the bloc by the end of March 2019 are steadfastly maintained by those involved in negotiations.

To be clear, that means the country is 19 months from the break with its largest trading partner.

Before the end of the year, the mid-point between the vote and the split will have been reached.

Watching David Davis, the grandly-titled Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union and his opponent across the negotiating table, Michel Barnier, at public loggerheads, it is hard to see how the transition can be smoothly made in such a timeframe.

Nothing has been definitively settled and on many issues — especially border controls and the final settlement bill — the parties seem further apart than ever.

Meanwhile, positive noises are made by touring delegations in China and the US but they are acting without the ability to seal the trade deals upon which British industry will depend.

Mr Barnier is correct to assert negotiations need to speed up but Mr Davis’ call for flexibility on the part of the EU seems likely to go unheeded.

Throughout it all, businesses have lost their ability to effectively plan for the future. Movement is needed.